Vulnerable
by Wasting words
Summary: Aussie and Aiden Medina have always been good friends of the ZBoyz. Aussie had been more than friends with one ZBoy not long ago. But when something makes Aussie nearly lose it can that relationship be rekindled? R
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer; Yes, I'm back with another LOD story. Yay me. I hope that you guys enjoy this one as much as the last one. I'm trying to break away from the whole different POV writing so wish me luck. As usual, I own nothing except my characters. (Aussie, Aiden, Emily and Dave) And, yes, I am still working on Foster Girl. Just the inspiration for this came so suddenly, and I didn't want to lose it. So enjoy.

"Aussie Rae? Time to get up, baby." The older females' wake up call remained unheard to the sixteen year old teenage girl, sitting atop her bed, pulling her sun streaked honey brown hair into a ponytail. The parts of her hair that the sun never seemed to hit remained a chocolate brown color. "Aussie?" the woman called again, this time coming into the girls' room. "Its 6:15, babe." Emily, Aussie's mother, said, placing her hands on her daughters' shoulders.

This was enough to snap her daughter out of her little dream world with a jump. Emily chuckled, wrapping her arms around Aussie's shoulders, "Morning, mom." She greeted with a warm smile, her mothers response a kiss on the cheek.

"You should really get going baby, you'll be late for your kick boxing class," Emily whispered, rocking back and forth with her beloved daughter, who nodded. "Aren't you going to wake your brother up? He is going surfing with Tony and them this morning, isn't he?"

Aussie made a face, and shook her head, "Nah. Skip says it's been flat three days in a row, so he declared the pier closed until they've got some good waves to charge. But, we all know that Skip is such a reliable source." Aussie laughed, rolling her hazel eyes.

"If you're not listening to your uncle, I guess I've taught you well." Her mother laughed, pulling back from the embrace.

"Now, Mom, that's not a very nice way to talk about your brother." Aussie scolded in a joking manner, clicking her tongue. Emily reached a hand out, giving Aussie's head a shove to the side.

"Do you need me to drop off a spare change of clothes at the shop on my way to work?"

"No, I'll just leave Aiden a note telling him to bring my clothes when he gets his lazy ass outta bed." Aussie shook her head, using her arms to pick herself up, and plop herself in the direction of her mother.

Emily sighed, running a hand through her hair. Aussie and Aiden didn't get their looks from their mother, with her brilliant green eyes, and silky smooth dirty blonde hair, but, instead from their late father. Aussie found herself more like her dad every day. Unmistakable attitude, quick wits, and a vivacious way of doing things her fathers personality was part of her as well as his looks. Of course, her quick temper was inherited from her mother- all the women in the Engblom family had that.

Aiden, on the other hand, bared his mothers' shyness, and her reserved qualities, but the way he went about things let people know he most certainly was Justin Medina's son. Aiden rarely spoke out, or rarely put up a fight like his stubborn sister.

"I'm working late again tonight, Aus. But, dinner's in the freezer. Dave's out of town until tomorrow night, but, if you do need anything, the number to his hotel is on the fridge."

Aussie groaned, "Of course you're working late again. You know, I don't know why Dave is always gone when he knows that you do need help around the house. And, he knows that we don't-"

"Austin Raechelle, please, do not start this morning." Emily sighed, not in the mood for her daughters' arguing.

"Right, sorry." She apologized, making her way over to her dresser, pulling out a pair of sweatpants, and a black tank top to dress herself in. She bent over and plucked a gray zip up jacket off the ground, staring at it questionably. _Is this even clean? _She thought, examining the item of clothing. _Ah, the hell with it. I'll wear it anyway. _

"Good-bye, Aussie. I'll be home around one or so." Emily said, pulling her daughter back by her ponytail so she could give her the daily kiss and hug good-bye. "And come take care of JT. You're the one who convinced me you could keep him from the land lord."

"Will do, Mom. Love you." Aussie began to fumble through a pile of crumpled papers, and pulled out a grocery list, and a permanent marker. She smoothed out the crinkles as quietly as she could, and began to jot down the note, saying the words out loud as she wrote.

The note read:

**Aiden-**

**Going for a run/ kick boxing class.**** Bring my backpack with a change of clothes, my make up, and my skateboard down to the Zephyr Shop with you. Mom's working late again tonight, and Dave won't be home until tomorrow night. Hotel number on the fridge if you need him.**

** -Aussie**

She dropped the note carelessly, letting it flutter down to the human shaped lump of blankets. She roamed out of the small room into the not much bigger kitchen, scooping a small terrier into her arms. "Hey there big boy," she greeted him with a kiss on top of the head, setting him on the messy counter while she went to retrieve water and food for the dog. By the time she'd returned, the pup had found its own way off the counter, trotting merrily to his food. Aussie reached down, petting his head one last time. She stole a water from the otherwise empty fridge, and began her morning run to the rundown building her class was held in.

…..

"There she is! Hey, there, little sis!" Aiden cried out, walking over to his sister with his arms thrown up in the air, expecting a hug.

Aussie's eyes rolled, but she proceeded to give her brother a hug anyway, "Hey, bro. Didja get my shit?" A wide grin was placed on Aiden's face, as he held up a black backpack holding all his dear sisters' belongings. "Thanks, bro. Knew I could count on you."

Before she could even get into the backroom, and demand that Skip make everyone leave, the infamous Tony Alva emerged, wrapping his arm around Aussie's shoulders, "Aussie, it's 'bout time you got here, chicka." He grinned, nearing her face.

Aussie sighed in disappointment, slipping out from Tony's grasp. Tony and Aussie tried the whole dating thing back just before she turned sixteen, almost six months ago. It got too weird for Aussie's taste, and she called the whole thing off. "Tony, we've tried the whole Aussie/Tony thing, have we not?"

Tony looked dumbfounded, putting that stupid confused look on his face. That was the face that made Aussie fall every time. She shook her head, "Yes, yes we have. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go change."

She marched into the back room, cigarette smoke flying at her immediately. She coughed a few times, waving her hand to clear the smoke, but it kept clouding her vision every damn time.

"Ah, if it ain't my favorite niece, Aussie Rae." A drunken Skip announced, leaning against the teenage girl, who simply shoved him off.

"Um…yeah. Newsflash; I'm your _only _niece, Skip. Now, make some people disappear, I have to get changed."

Skip nodded, pulling the cigarette from his mouth, clapping three times, "You heard the lady. Chino, Montoya, move it."

Aussie watched in satisfaction as the men flooded out of the room. One, and possibly, the only perk about being Skip Engblom's niece. "Alright, let's see what we got here…" Aussie muttered, dumping the contents of her back pack on the only clean spot of the floor. Make up products rolled about aimlessly, and her brothers' choice of clothes landed with a 'plop' in one spot. Her foot sifted through the pile, separating a pair of worn jeans from a black strapless top. She cringed slightly at the sight of the top. Aiden was so going down for this. She slipped out of her work out clothing, into her attire for today.

The black strapless top made her a little uneasy, cutting off inches beneath her collar bone, leaving her shoulders bare. The loose fabric flowed to her hip bones, in almost a bell shape. That she was grateful for. She raised a hand to her hair, and tugged the elastic holding her hair up, allowing it to fall inches past her shoulders. Her eyes traveled around the work room, searching for make up products gone astray. Having no such luck merely gazing, she dropped to her knees, feeling around for the cold tube of mascara, and barely there stick of eye liner.

"Aha, there you are, you sneaky bastards…" Aussie had a habit of making light conversation with herself, a habit she'd picked up from her mother. Aussie shifted from her knees to her butt, pulling out a small mirror, tracing her eyes with the pathetic stick of eyeliner, coating her lashes with a layer of mascara.

Her clothes from that morning, brush, make up and mirror all were shoved into the bag before she pulled on her aged, black Converse. They seemed like they were at least three years old from the roughness of them, but they were barley a year, Aussie's aggressive persona took a toll on them through the almost year.

"Sid!" Chino yelled, and hyena like laughter followed after watching Sid, the youngest of the group, clatter to the ground, a worried expression printed on his features. "Oh, shit, I'm sorry, man." He laughed again, high fiving Skip, who found it equally amusing.

Aussie shook her head in disgust. Chino always knew how to push her buttons, without even realizing it. Of course, even if he did see Aussie lingering in the door way, his actions wouldn't have changed. "Chino, can you not be an ass for like five seconds? You know Sid's got that inner ear thing." She scolded, helping the boy off the ground. The reason everyone found Chino so intimidating was beyond her, the man really wasn't that scary. At least not to Austin Raechelle Medina, outspoken and fearless as she was.

Chino let out a low growl, sending Aussie a death glare.

"Nah, it's okay. That was a good one, guys." Sid chuckled awkwardly, flipping his head so his hair fell out of his eyes, "Thanks anyways, though, Aus."

A grin turned up on Aussie's face, as she threw her arm around Sid's shoulders, "Eh, we've gotta stick together, right? Because as the scared and totally unprepared young ones we are, we'd have no idea what to do without each other, right?" Aussie was only a few months older than Sid.

"Haha, right." Aussie released Sid, turning to her brother, Jay and Tony. She gave her twin a stare of disbelief, pulling at the access fabric hanging from the much dreaded top. "Aiden, what the hell bro?"

Her reaction only earned a chuckle from her two-minute-older than her brother. "Ah, I'm just messin' with ya, little sis!"

"_Little? _Only by two minutes!" she exclaimed, jumping onto her brother, wrestling him to the ground. Aiden groaned in pain, the weight of his sister pressing into his back, she had him in a very uncomfortable position, twisting his arm in a way it shouldn't be able to twist, pressing it in between his shoulder blades. "Who's the little one now?" She called in a joking, yet victorious matter.

"I am." He coughed, and Aussie stood up, relieving his back of the unwanted one hundred and thirty one pounds.

"That's what I thought. Never again am I letting you chose my outfits."

T.A cracked up at this, "Don't sweat it, Aus, strapless is a good look for you."

Aiden's jaw dropped, and his fist went flying into Tony's shoulder, "Dude, that's my sister!"

Tony ignored the blow from Aiden, the comment as well, and went on his way, attempting to charm the less than interested girl. "Took you long enough to get here, what's the deal there?"

Aussie shrugged, "I had my fighting class today."

It was Jay's turn to speak, "That's right. You're like, karate kid or some shit like that." He laughed, striking a karate type pose, pairing a karate like yell with it. Jay Adams- jack ass extrodinar in her book. Not that she didn't mind, some of Jay's wise cracks were actually funny. And, that did make Jay easier to get along with, when he wasn't being a full out jack ass, which often got him in trouble with her.

"Nice, Jay boy, very nice. Now, where's my Stacy?" Yes, **her **Stacy. For as long as she could remember, Stacy had always been the one Z-boy she turned to for everything. When her and Aiden got in rare, but serious, fights, when her and Tony had started dating, when she got news of her mothers' new beau, Stacy was the first ones who knew of it. Feelings for Stacy had once been there, and she was sure those feelings had been returned, but the both of them decided to ignore those, and keep their relationship the way it was, brother -sister like.

"Hell if I know, but Peggy jacked your board." Aiden informed, and Aussie only laughed at that fact. Peggy Oki was her first, and maybe only, female best friend. Sure, Kathy and Blanca had been there, they always have been, but Peggy was there on a different level. Peggy lived to skate like Aussie; Peggy was one of the boys like Aussie.

The door to the Zephyr shop flew open, a tall blonde boy entering the shop. To say the least, the Zephyr shop was like a second home to the guys, Peggy and Aussie. Red Dog and Shogo followed, chatting about the next competition or something along those lines.

"Peralta!" Aussie threw her arms up in the air, running to greet Stacy with a hug. Stacy was like a brother to her, so of course she'd greet him so warmly. He grinned, leaning into Aussie's embrace.

"Peralta, its' bout time you showed up." Tony said, leaning against the much taller than him Z-Boy.

Stacy's response was a shrug, "Sorry, man, my shift went longer than I had expected it to. We had a huge rush today." He said, twirling his key ring around his finger.

"Great, so we're just waiting on Peggy and Biniak then." Aussie glanced outside the beaten up shop, searching for any sign of the two. Her body jumped slightly, feeling the strong arms of the Mexican boy, Tony Alva, wrap around her waist, picking her up slightly. "Ah! Shit, Tony! Put me down, kid!"

Her sudden cry only made Tony laugh, as her legs begin to flail as she tried to escape his grasp. He knew as well as everyone else being picked up in such a manner drove Aussie to almost insanity. His grip only grew nothing but tighter, causing Aussie to squirm around more. The rest of them found this nothing but hilarious, but Aiden did speak up after a few moments of watching his poor sister flail.

"Alright, Alva, put her down, man." Tony sighed, and pouted a bit before he let the girl slip out of his hold, onto the floor. Aussie cringed, but remained on the linoleum paneling of the Zephyr surf shop floor. "Hey, sis, Peggy's here with your board."

….

"Peggy! Try something with me!" Aussie called, waving her arms to catch the Asian girls' attention. That's what she loved about Peggy. She was willing to do any crazy stunt that Aussie suggested, unlike the boys, afraid to harm her as she was a girl, very fragile. The very thought made her hazel eyes roll to the back of her head. Aiden was the cause for that, being very over protective of his little sister. But, she thought even if Aiden wasn't her brother, the boys would still restrict themselves from playing rough with her.

"Gnarly. I'm down." With that, Aussie went to one side of the pool, Peggy to the other, and both the girls' prepared themselves to drop in. The plan was to approach the light from two different sides, just to prove that it is possible to carve it with two people. Two girls, no less. There was a nagging thought in Aussie's mind that knew her little stunt wouldn't work, but Aussie being the way she is, chose to ignore that thought, as she usually.

"Ready, Peg!" Aussie shouted across the pool, seeing Peggy's signal nod. The two of them dropped in, and everything went according to plan until they hit the light, colliding into each other with a loud **crash**their boards crashing down behind them.

Aussie had come sliding into the center of the pool, nearly getting another pounding from Shogo's approaching board. The Asian bailed out at the last moment, lucky for Aussie. Her chocolate brown hair had been tossed around, and her forehead had taken shelter on her arm. Peggy landed in more or less the same position, inches away from her friend.

"Aussie! Fuck, outta my way!" Aussie's male counter part shoved his way through the crowd of unfamiliar skaters to his sisters' limp body. "Aus? Aussie!" his hand flew to her shoulder, shaking her before she rolled onto her back, a large grin beaming on her face.

"Aus, you okay chicka?" Tony asked, picking up the fallen Peggy, sharing the same goofy grin as Aussie.

"I knew that wasn't going to work." Peggy stated simply, Aussie nodding in agreement before breaking out in laughter.

"Tcha, but it was pretty gnarly." The girl spoke, pushing her less than amused brothers worried face out of her own, "Aiden, I'm fine, bro." Dusting herself off, her eyes landed on a spot on her arm, where a fair amount of skin had been torn off, specs of blood and dirt thrown in there.

Stacy cringed, picking up Aussie's elbow to examine the wound. "Aus, you should get that cleaned up…" his voice was dripping with worry, but that was just Stacy for you.

She tossed her hair out of her face for a response, "Eh, shit happens. It's okay. _But _if you really wanna make a big deal out of it," she grinned mischievously, finger pointing towards her brother, "Blame Aiden. He's the one who picked this out for me."

Before Aiden could get a word of protest out, Dave, their mothers' boyfriend, had come to the pool, looking at Aussie, almost as if she had disobeyed non-existent rules he firmly believe in enforcing. "Austin! What do you think you're doing? You're grounded, remember?"

"Not according to Mom. And, the last time I checked, you're not my dad and I don't have to listen to you." The harshness of that last comment made Aiden cringe with uncertainty. It wasn't out of Aussie's character to say anything like that, really it wasn't, just whenever she made a comment like that it shocked him just as it did the first time she'd learned to speak out.

Dave bit his tongue, the little patience he had from the outspoken teen was wearing thin. "I don't care if I'm not your father; you still have to listen to me Austin Raechelle."

Austin Raechelle. The only time Aussie's full name was used was when she had crossed the line into serious trouble. The clamoring of the skaters had stopped, and everyone's attention had shifted to the heated argument between Aussie and Dave.

"I don't _have _to do anything. You don't care about my mom, my brother, or me. You're just using my mom for Lord knows what reasons. And when you decided that you've had enough, you'll just think of my mom as some girl who was stupid enough to get herself knocked up at fifteen. You're not the first person who's been around." Her words were bitter, and she knew as well as Aiden did that none of that was true. Aussie was only speaking out of frustration as she did when she grew this upset. At least, Aussie and Aiden didn't want them to seem true.

For once, they wanted someone who didn't use their mom for something. It had been rough ever since their father had died from a drunk driving accident nearly seven months ago, but the most grief had fallen on their mother, Emily. Justin Medina was, and always will be, Emily Engblom's first love, the only man she thought to spend her life with, and possibly the only man that would have stuck around with the pregnant teenager.

No more words were spoken as Aussie chucked her board out of the pool, pulling herself out next. "Later, dudes." Aussie pulled her fingers into a peace sign as she walked away with Dave.

….

"Hey, Aus! Where you at?" Aiden's voice was followed by the pounding of his fist on the apartment door. Either sound could barley be heard over Iron Man by Black Sabbath blasted through out the apartment.

The music had stopped, and the girl set down a broom, kicking the small dust pan out of her way, coming to greet the usual bunch of guys in her front room. "Hey guys." She grinned, presenting herself.

Aiden shut the door behind him, and pulled his sister into the second hug of the day.

"The pool session lost interest to you guys so quickly, anything of importance happen?" she questioned, and the five of them shrugged.

"Aus, you've only been here an hour, nothing big really happens in an hour. 'Sides, thought you might like some company...speaking off, where's Dave?"

"Eh, he went to the store or something like that, left me here to clean whilst my friends go and frolic about Santa Monica. Very Cinderella don't you think?"

"Well, while the Dave's away…" Tony began, resting his body against Aussie's.

She grinned; Tony knew her catch phrase so well. That all came with knowing him practically growing up with him, being one of her brothers best friends, and, of course, dating him for a six month period. "Yeah, yeah. But, he just went down the street, he'll be back soon. I'll just chill here until he leaves for a longer time. I figure I should lay low just incase he decides to tell anything to Mom."

Aiden's hand reached out to ruffle his sisters' hair, "Cool. Later."


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors note**** mwahaha. ****Reviews.**** Yay! ****So far so good on this story.**** C: Still not owning anything. SO, here's chapter two, enjoy, read and review. And always remember: reviews make A-ray happy and a happy A-ray makes more chapters for her stories. **

The aroma of sizzling bacon, eggs, and pancake batter filled the small apartment's kitchen, flooding to Aiden's nostrils as the boy yawned, sluggishly making his way out of the empty room. Morning confusion stuck to him, expecting to see his mother at the stove, cooking the breakfast.

"Morning honey. Did you sleep well?" his mothers' voice called from the front room, where she was on the couch, a cup of coffee in one hand, the other entangled in the bun gathered on top of her head.

The dazed teen mumbled, wiping away the remaining bits of sleeping sand from his eyes. He spun around to the kitchen, seeing his sister cooking the breakfast. He chuckled, "Mom, you're letting Aussie cook? Isn't that kind of a dangerous thing to do? Do you remember what happened that one night, when she tried making dinner for grandma and grandpa? That was disastrous."

Emily laughed lightly, "Aiden, you know it's not nice to remind your sister of that. That was a one time thing…even if she did almost burn down the apartment."

"My point, exactly. Who's to say she won't burn the apartment down this time?"

"Fuck you, Aiden." Aussie dipped two fingers into the pancake batter, and flicked the batter from her fingers onto her brothers' nose. It was her turn to laugh; "Now _that _is funny. Mom, your breakfast is ready."

"Thank you, baby. Oh, Aiden, you've got something right there." His mother smiled a sweet smile, swiping some pancake batter off her sons' nose.

"Didn't notice." He said, flatly, glaring at Aussie, who had a piece of bacon hanging from her mouth. "Have you ever paid attention to how your daughter eats? It's kind of disgusting."

Aussie flipped the piece of bacon into her mouth with her tongue. "You know you like it. Your eating habits aren't much better, so I suggest you shut it unless you want a repeat of what happened at the Zephyr shop yesterday to happen."

In all truth, Aiden was surprised that Aussie could pull of such a stunt. Her strength matched his own, which also surprised him for his sister, who inherited her mothers' tiny frame. Aiden's eyes rolled, "Anyways, are you going to hang out with us today? I hear there are some gnarly waves to charge."

Pouring herself a cup of orange juice, Aussie shrugged, taking a sip, "I don't know. Maybe. Kathy and Blanca want to drag me to do some girl related thing, I don't know exactly what. Whatever it is, I'm dragging Peggy along with me, so don't be expecting her to show if I don't."

"But, Peggy hates those two."

"If I have to suffer, Peggy has to suffer with me."

Aiden shook his head, shoveling a forkful of eggs in his mouth, "You're such a great friend, you know that? Depriving your best lady friend of all the fun. What about after that, you coming to Tony's place?"

She bit her lower lip before answering. Aiden knew that look. He knew only too well that something was wrong. The room grew silent, Emily grew worried.

She stood up, wiping her hands on her paper plate, before placing on hand on her daughters' chest, the other on her forehead, "Baby, are you okay?" her hand raised up, smoothing Aussie's hair back.

She cracked a light smile, and shook her head, "Yeah, fine. Sorry, I zoned out there. I'm just gunna take a shower, and see what the hell Kathy wants me to do with her today."

….

After two hours of uneventful mall time with Kathy and Blanca, Aussie came trudging through the apartment door, a weary expression painted on her face. It wasn't that anything was wrong. It was just that Kathy and Blanca had bored her and Peggy of talk about Jay, and Tony. Tony. Ugh. She was sick of hearing that name come out of Blanca's mouth.

"Aiden?" she called quietly, tip toeing into the kitchen, in fear that her brother might be asleep in the bed room, and she might wake him up.

She heard him groan from the bedroom before he called out her name along with 'in here.'

She continued to tip toe into her room, only to see her brother crashed out on his bed, a bag of ice in one hand, while the other gently traced along the shiner bruising his eye. "Aiden! What the hell? You didn't get into another fight, did you? Who was it with? Why did you get into a fight, why-"

"Whoa! Whoa, slow it down there, shooter. I'm fine. I just got into a skateboarding accident. God, no need to go into over worried Mom mode."

"What do you expect, Aiden? I come home, and see my brother with a huge fuckin' black eye. All signs point to a fight." She snapped, and drew in a breath. Another thing she had inherited from their father was blowing things way out of proportion, getting worked up over nothing. She wiped stray hair out of her face before she got on her hands and knees, crawling over to her brothers' mattress, cuddling up with him.

It's always been this way. Whenever something was bothering her, she would always cuddle up with the nearest person, even if it was her brother most of the time. Aiden welcomed his sister openly as she snuggled herself in, laying his head against hers, wrapping his arms around her small body.

"Alright sis, 'fess up. What's bothering you this time?" The question caused Aussie's mind to flood with lies, and excuses to tell her brother. But, what was the use? Sure, she could fool Stacy, Jay, Sid, or Tony with one of her petty little lies, but not Aiden. Aiden always saw through those lies, and always pushed for the truth. She gave a defeated sigh.

"Ugh. I don't know. I mean, we were at the mall, and Blanca would just not shut up about Tony. I wanted to bash her teeth in, but of course, I can't do that. Peggy wouldn't let me, even though I know she felt the same urge. Anyway, I guess I got…jealous." She shuddered as the word rolled off her tongue. The word stuck to her lips, repeating itself in her head.

Jealous? She couldn't possibly be jealous of the fact that Tony was with another girl. Yeah, the fact that he was with Blanca almost a day after they broke up had bothered her, and, for the first time, she was truly mad at Tony Alva. She wanted to hate him, she wanted to bitch him out, tell him about how he was being an insensitive jerk. But, that wouldn't get her anywhere. It was just Tony's nature to be that way.

She continued, "I shouldn't be jealous. I mean, if I knew seeing him with another girl would upset me as much as it did, I wouldn't have broken up with him. Things did get too weird for me, but I thought that I had just lost my feelings for him."

"Well, it's only natural to be jealous, Aus."

Aussie only groaned, turning her face into her brothers' shirt, fighting off the urge to scream at the top of her lungs. "Whatever. It doesn't matter."

"C'mon. I hear Red Dog's having a party tonight." Aiden said out of nowhere, yanking his sister up by her wrists, as her hands were clasped around his upper arm.

"A party? What good would that do, we don't drink, smart one."

Aiden rolled his eyes, pulling a shirt on over his bare upper body, "We don't have to drink. C'mon, Stacy will be there, and Sid, and Jay. And you know how funny it is to watch Jay when he's trashed." Aussie's mind had been made at the mention of alcohol. The thought churned her stomach in many different ways, sending an uneasy feeling throughout her body. Maybe she would have a different perspective about alcohol if it hadn't had lead to her fathers' death.

She sighed, rubbing her temples. Tonight the roles had been reversed. Any other day, Aussie would be the one trying to pull Aiden to come and watch their friends' parade about as drunken idiots. The sudden opening and slamming of the door had kept her from answering, and Emily's and Dave's screams filled the small apartment, drifting through the paper thin walls.

Aussie turned to face Aiden, backing into her side of the room as she did. What could they be fighting about this time? How stupid she was to believe it was the last time they had been fighting truly was their last time. Her fear slowly turned into hate for her mom's boyfriend. How dare he make her mother so unhappy? Her mother, who was loving, soft spoken, and an all around great person to be around. He didn't deserve Emily Engblom's love. He didn't deserve Emily Engblom's anything. With a hushed, yet frustrated, scream, her fist slammed into the wall, puncturing yet another hole in the aged apartment.

"Let's just go." Aiden approached his sister, rubbing her shoulders' gingerly. He hated the way Dave treated their mother as much as she did; he hated the fighting as much as she did. He hated seeing his mom upset; he hated seeing Aussie upset. Of course, Aiden and his mother were close, and he loved his mother with all his heart, but it was a different story with Aussie. Aussie was his best friend; he was hers, that's just how it is. He's seen Aussie break down, he's seen a side of Aussie that he doubted his mother even knew about. There was a strong unspoken bond between the two of them, a bond his mother and himself didn't share.

He gently grabbed his sister by the shoulders, leading her out of the bedroom, into the middle of his mom and her boyfriends' fighting. They didn't take the time to even notice the two slip out of the front door. Before they went to the party, he thought it best to take his sister to a run down warehouse, where she often practiced her fighting.

…

Breaths came short and heavy from the girl, hunched over, hands placed on her knees, resting before she struck the padding her brother was holding up several more times.

Aiden chuckled, drawing away from his furious sister, "Better?"

"Aiden, if you want your stomach to be used in place of the matt, I suggest you put it back up." She growled, setting up for another go round.

Aiden tossed the bag to the side, resting his hands on his sisters' shoulders once more, "Aus, you're done. Now its time to go to Red Dog's, watch our friends make asses of themselves, and just relax. Alright?"

Reluctantly, Aussie agreed, freeing her hair of the elastic that held it, allowing it to spill across her shoulders.

…

"Aussie, Aiden! You guys made it out!" Biniak beamed, throwing both of his arms around the siblings shoulders, the beer toppling out of the cup clutched in his left hand. Aussie grinned in somewhat higher spirits.

"Yeah!" Aussie cried over the roar of the music blaring from inside the house. Biniak shoved a plastic cup in her hands, and then disappeared into the smoky house. Aiden sighed, dropping the cup, watching the alcohol spill out as the cup whirled around.

"I'm gunna go look for Stace, or someone!" He called, rubbing his sisters' arm before following after Biniak. Aussie gazed into her cup, swirling the beer around a bit. Peggy was no where in sight; she was probably inside, or something.

"Why is it whenever someone throws a party it's always at Tony's house?" she thought to herself, pressing her spine against the Alva's front porch, throwing her legs over either side. Many party guests came and went, but Aussie didn't seem to notice them, or anything else for that matter. She was concentrated on the warming liquid in her cup, as many other things. Slowly, she raised the cup to her lips, taking a drink. She let the bitter tasting liquid sit in her mouth for a moment, her tongue trying to adapt to the harsh tasting substance. Apparently, her tongue couldn't handle that little task, causing Aussie to spit out what little she had in her mouth onto the ground. That was disgusting, what was she thinking?

She regained her composure before trying to keep the alcohol down one more time. It burned a bit going down her throat, but she swallowed much against her will. The liquid was now lining the middle of the cup, leaving Aussie a little buzzed.

She could already hear Tony's mocking laughter in her head, "Haha, shit, man. Lightweight." Which was true, Aussie never thought her body could hold that much alcohol. To shake Tony's annoying laughter out of her head, she polished off the rest of the drink, tossing the cup aside.

Letting a drunken giggle slip, Aussie stood up, trying to walk along the edge of the porch, throwing her arms out to maintain her balance. Not like it was a long ways down, but to a drunken Aussie, it did seem like quite a long ways down. She placed one foot in front of the other, taking another step. Unfortunately, her foot slipped out from underneath her, scraping the side of the porch as she came crashing down, knee tucked underneath her butt.

The fact that she had fallen came as a bit of a shock to her, taking her aback. Not even a fall like that could keep Austin Raechelle from trying that stunt again, drunk or not. Wobbly she picked herself up, nearly repeating the same action as before. She felt someone lift her arm around their shoulders, laughing as they did so.

"Whoa. Never thought I'd see the day Aussie Rae gets drunk. Haha." Tony grinned, removing Aussie off the porch before she actually did hurt herself.

"I-I am not drunk! I-I'm just…I'm just…tipsy is all." She managed to slur out through her round of hiccups. She giggled a bit more, "A-and Tony's not…not drunk?"

Tony shook his head, laughing a bit, "Nah, not yet. Jesus chicka, how many beers have you had?"

"Only one."

"Ha, fuckin' lightweight." His voice took a fake disappointed tone, as he reached out, taking her hand in his so she wouldn't get lost within the crowd of other partiers. "Stace! Aiden!" he called, pushing his way to the two boys.

Aiden turned around at the sound of Tony's voice, gaping to see his sister following Tony, drunk as could be. "Tony! Dude, what the fuck did you do to her?"

"I didn't do anything, man. She was like this when I found her. She only had one beer; she'll sober up in, like, an hour."

"Stace, wanna give us a ride home? I'm pretty sure the fighting stopped." Aiden looked at Stacy, while he slid on arm underneath his sisters legs, wrapping the other one around her waist.

"Yeah, sure."

"I'll come with. I don't feel like drinkin' tonight."

….

"The next time I have a beer in my hand, smack me. Owww. My head." Aussie cradled her head in one hand, suffering from the side effects of her one beer.

"Whatever you say, Aus." Aiden stepped out of Stacy's car, opening the door for his sister in the back, who had fallen against Tony when she passed out on the ride home.

Tony had attempted to help, but Aussie swatted his hand out of the way, crawling out of the back of the car.

"You guys wanna come in for a bit?" Aiden offered, and Tony and Stacy looked at each other before confirming the offer with a nod.

"Mom, we're back!" Emily didn't respond as Aiden shut the door quietly, and that caused both him and Aussie to worry. "Mom?"

"Mom? Mom, where are you?" Aussie called, looking around the apartment herself. Maybe her mother wasn't home? Maybe Dave had taken her out for a dinner to say I'm sorry for the fight? No, she was still home. Emily wouldn't just up and leave without leaving a note.

Delayed and shaky breathing echoed through the apartment, coming from their mothers' bedroom. Aiden and Aussie exchanged worried glances, and Tony and Stacy were clueless, but a bit shaken as well.

"Mom!" Aussie called out, running into her mothers' room, the three boys following after her. Emily's back was pressed into the wall, her hand clutching her chest.

"What's going on? Is she okay?" Tony asked in a panic.

Aussie released the breath she held, kneeling next to her mother, telling her to breath. "She's having a panic attack, but it's a small one, she'll be okay. Aiden, go get her pills, and Stacy, you get her a glass of water." She instructed, calmly. Panic attacks were nothing new to Emily, as the woman in the Engblom family had a history with them. Emily's mother had them, her mother's mother had had them, and even Aussie had them from time to time. She turned to look at Tony, who remained task less, "Help me get her into her bed." Her attention turned back to her mother, "You'll be okay, Mom."

Tony obliged, lifting Emily off the ground, carrying her over to her bed, placing her in it gently. Aussie sat next to her mother, holding her hand for comfort. "Thanks." She offered Tony a small smile as he rubbed Aussie's back gently.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer**** Well, third chapter. I'd like to say thank you to all the reviewers out there. So, thanks. I don't own anything outside of the people mentioned in the first chapter.**

"Aussie…get up. Aussie Raeeeee."

Aussie grumbled, knowing that voice only too well. "Aiden." She yawned, opening her eyes. She expected her brother to be towering over her, feet placed on either sides of her. Out of all the days to wake her up, why this one? The effects of last nights' alcohol still lingered; Tony was right, she _was _a light weight.

Speaking of weight, she had tried to shift onto her right side, but something kept her from doing so. An unfamiliar weight. Having many play wrestling matches with her brother, his weight had become her own, so to speak, and this was way too heavy to be him.

Although her eyes were open, she couldn't make out who was on top of her. She squeezed her eyes shut for just a moment, and reopened them. The sight of Tony Alva, frizzy gold hair dangling over his shoulders, with a grin on his face welcomed her.

"Ah!!! Tony!" she called, shoving the Mexican boy off, only to have him pop right back up in his previous position, resting his hands on his knees. "Aiden!" she yelled as loud as she could.

"You rang?" Her brother grinned a goofy grin, poking his head into the bedroom.

"Aiden, you have until the count of three to make Tony get off me. One….two…"

"Ah, come on guys, she's up. Leave her alone already." Stacy instructed, brushing his hair behind his shoulders.

"Ah, come on, Peralta, what's the fun in having Aussie hang with us if we can't tease her?" Tony said in a mocking manner, climbing off the brunette.

"Stace, have I ever told you you're my hero?" she joked, pulling herself up, back resting against the wall, "Aiden is Mom okay?"

"Yah, she's okay. She's in her room, resting up as we speak. I already called her work and told them what happened." Aussie closed her eyes, nodding. Dave was nowhere insight. Usually, after a fight, he was back in Emily's arms, making up for the fight with a bouquet of roses or something to that extent, paired with a fake apology.

_Shit. I have to work tonight…great._ She thought, banging the back of her head against the wall.

"Aus? You okay, chicka?" She opened her eyes, and answered Tony's question with a silent nod.

"Bro, I have work tonight…can you handle taking care of Mom until I get home?"

"Yeah, 'course I can. What time do you work?"

"11:00 to 6:45." Shifts at the small diner usually didn't thrill Aussie, but she needed the money to pay for her fighting classes, and help with the rent here and there. She didn't want to go into work tonight. She didn't feel like putting up with the diner's more stubborn customers, as her responses usually got her in trouble with her manager.

"11:00? Well then you should start getting ready, its 10:00 already." Stacy said, glancing at his watch, "If you hurry, I'll give you a ride."

"Yeah, yeah. I know." She paused, throwing the covers onto the ground, "You were gonna give me a ride, anyways, Peralta. Don't play that with me." She teased, crawling out of her bed to her dresser for clothes for the day.

"Yeah, you're right. I just thought that telling you that would make you move faster." He said, tugging on a piece of her hair. She brushed his hand away before she went into the bathroom for a quick shower.

…

"Thanks, Stace!" Aussie called, waving to the blonde boy as he drove away. With a small sigh, she fashioned her hair into a high ponytail, bangs left out to frame her face in just such away before entering the diner with no spirit whatsoever.

"Aussie, hey." Daniela, one of Aussie's co workers, called cheerily, dumping the sordid silver wear into a gray tub along with other dirtied dishes, "Word of warning, the boss is a battle axe today, so I'd just do my job and keep my mouth shut. Who knows what she's capable of _this _time…talk about rawr." Daniela pulled a monster like face, tucking the tub underneath one arm, forming a claw with her spare hand.

Aussie laughed, shaking her head. Kerry's rampages were really nothing new to the work staff, but when she did have them, everyone just learned to keep it to themselves. Aussie had troubles with this, but she still had a bit of a headache, and didn't feel like arguing back.

"Oh, joy. Well, I'm kinda hung over so I guess today I can just refrain from being myself. Just for today though."

"Aussie! We're down one bus boy today, so get to it!" Kerry snarled shoving a tub similar to Daniela's into Aussie's arms.

"Yes, ma'am." She grimaced once Kerry had turned away, and stuck her tongue out childishly.

….

"Stace, I just got off. Do you think you could so me a favor? Swing by and pick me up on the way to Skip's? Thanks, man, I owe you. Alright, bye." With a relived sigh, Aussie hung up the phone before punching out. Daniela laughed, bouncing in the seat next to Aussie, who had thrown down her wash rag on the now clean table top.

"Long day, wouldn't you say?" she said, watching as Aussie folded her arms over one another and placed them on the table, resting her head on her top arm.

"I'll say. I'm glad we're closing up early for whatever reason."

Daniela made a face, "Speak for yourself. I hate being on clean up. It takes forever, and prolongs our suffering. But, the suffering is over for tonight. What are your plans for tonight?"

Aussie shrugged, sitting up, and pulling her hair from the ponytail, "Well, once Stacy comes to pick me up, we're gonna head to my uncles' shop and meet everyone…after that, I really don't know. It's unpredictable with those guys on some days."

"Uh-huh, and what about Tony? You know you've still got the hots for him. And, I've seen the way he looks at you." Daniela sing-songed, fluttering her hands in a cutesy manner that made Aussie want to throw up. She rolled her eyes, slapping Daniela's arm with the dish towel.

"Ha. You mean the way he looks at almost every girl? Please, Daniela, don't even kid about something like that."

A smile crept onto Daniela's lips in an instant, "You still like him."

Aussie's jaw dropped as she gaped at Daniela, "Okay, ew. I do _not _like Tony still."

Daniela's eyes rolled in her head, as the tiny bell attached to the top of the door rang, Stacy Peralta entering the diner.

"Oh, look, my ride's here. Bye, Daniela." She threw her apron on the table, leaving with Stacy before Daniela could get a word out.

"So, how was your shift?" Stacy asked, slowing for a red light.

"Ugh…hellish as usual. Kerry was super bitch today, talk about rawr." She sighed, quoting Daniela.

Stacy laughed, and they remained silent for most of the ride.

"Does it seem like I still like Tony?" The question Aussie just proposed was sudden, and caught Stacy off guard as he looked at her, eye brow raised.

"Do you want me to answer that truthfully?" he joked. Of course he would, there's a not a thing in the world that Stacy wouldn't be honest about with Aussie—not about her relationship with Tony, her and Aiden's little fights.

Aussie shot him a serious look, and he sighed, "Honestly? A lot, actually. And, it seems like he still like you, too. Just the way you guys act around each other is kind of a dead give away. Is that a problem?"

Aussie groaned, covering her face with her hands, "A big problem! I don't want to like Tony still."

Stacy bit his lower lip, patting her hand as he pulled up in front of the Zephyr shop. He really hated to see her stress out like this. "Well, forget about it now. Let's go in and watch our friends' act stupid." He offered her a smile, opening his door.

"That…is the best offer I've had all day."

….

"Stace do you think we do this too much?"

Stacy turned his head to her, a questionable expression etched deep in his features.

"This," she explained, gently patting the hood of his car, "Lie on the hood of your car and look at the stars."

Stacy pondered the question for a moment before shaking his head, "Nah. I think its nice break from our normal routine."

Aussie nodded in agreement, "Are you still mad at Kath?"

Again, Stacy thought about the question before answering. "I talk to her, don't I?"

"Yeah, but, that doesn't mean you're not mad at her anymore. I mean, I talk to people when I'm mad at them."

Stacy shrugged, "Kind of, I guess. Jayboy's at fault, too, but I'm over it, I guess."

"Yeah, well, Kathy had a choice…and so did Jay…they just made the wrong ones. I, myself, am still really, really pissed off at the both of them for what they did."

"But, Kathy's your friend…"

"I don't care. What she did to you is just fucked up."

He smiled at her comment, "Not a lot of people think so, so that makes you the first. But, it's water under the bridge now."

"Well, that's good. Because, I probably would have felt bad about calling Kathy a bitch and Jayboy a prick…"

Stacy sucked in a breath, Aussie's mind worked in quite a different way than most girls. He was about to say something, but Tony stomping out of the shop had caught their attention.

Aussie bit her lip, looking at Stacy, "He looks pissed..," she slid off the car, looking back at Stacy one last time, "I'm gunna go see if he's okay."

She followed behind Tony with as much confidence as she could muster. If there was one thing in this world that scared her, it was Tony's temper. It was worse than her own, and he used it well to his advantage.

"Tony…" she called out, but her voice was meek and timid. She cleared her throat and called his name again, placing a hand on his toned arm, but he'd managed to pull it away from her grasp. She groaned, her own temper wearing down a bit.

"Alva! Don't ignore me like that, kid, you know I hate it." She said, sliding onto the grass next to him.

He ignored her presence for the most part, but, that didn't stop her from leaning into him, chin resting on his shoulder. "Alva, what's wrong? You don't normally storm out like that for no reason."

Her question leered in the air for a few moments as Tony desperately tried to avoid it, and go about ignoring her as planned. But, there was just something about Aussie. Something he couldn't place his finger on, whatever it was, he couldn't bring himself to ignore her.

"Blanca. She's getting all freaked out because she saw me with some chick today." He started, and Aussie drew back, leaning on her palms, crossing on leg over the other.

"Yeah. Typically girls like to be the only girl in their boyfriends' life. Kind of expected actually."

Tony smirked, "Is that why you broke up with me?"

She knew he was going to pull that card, but she had her own counter retort, "You know exactly why I broke up with you, Tony. And, besides, Blanca doesn't know the Tony Alva I do. She doesn't know that no matter how many girls you may drool over, no matter how many girls hang around you, that in the end, she's the only girl you really want in your life." She offered him a smile.

He had never really looked at Aussie before. But, the way the moon light was beaming against her face had got him to thinking. No longer was she the same girl he had grown up with, but instead she was a young woman, with her opinions, certain way of doing things. Also, he had taken notice to how she had changed physically. That innocent little girl look he'd become so accustom to had washed away, and been replaced with a certain beauty. Even now, in her work shirt, with her make up half sweated off, and hair in a tangled mess, that beauty was held. And, he realized he was lucky; that was the girl he loves, and she loves him back. Everyone else was otherwise convinced Aussie had no feelings left for Tony at all, but Tony…Tony wasn't convinced, he knew deep down she cares for him like he does for her.

"Tony…hello. Earth to Tony Alva." Aussie called, waving her hand in front of Tony's face, giggling a bit, "Dude, you okay man? Thought I lost ya there."

Tony snapped himself out of his daze, just long enough for his brown eyes to search her hazel ones. He couldn't stop himself from his next action. It seemed like the perfect moment and he had to take it. He set his forehead against hers, and brushed her lips with his own gently, giving her the opportunity to pull away if she desired.

She seemed like she had no intention of doing so, allowing Tony to kiss her gently. She had begun to kiss back, but she raised her hand, placing it on Tony's chest, pulling herself away. "I-I'm sorry, Tony. I c-can't…Blanca..I'm sorry. I just can't do this…kiss you, I mean."

Tony stiffened his lower lip, biting back a few things he had wanted to yell. He stood up, flustered, and left the girl pleading for him to return behind.

….

"So, he kissed you?"

Aussie squeezed her eyes shut, flinching at Peggy's words. She, herself, still didn't know what to make of what happened.

"And you kissed him back?"

She nodded meekly, "I started to…but I don't know what happened."

The Asian girl shook her head, "You know what I think about this whole situation?"

"What?"

"I think that the only reason you kissed him back is because you still have feelings for him, you're just to stubborn to admit it."

"Peggy!" she cried, smacking the girl over the head with a pillow. She knew Peggy was right; Peggy was _always _right.

"You know I'm right, Aussie."

"So, _I'm _the stubborn one? This coming from the girl who has the most pathetic crush on my brother, who, may I remind you, won't admit it either." She countered, and Peggy flushed. The two sighed in unison.

….

"You _kissed _my sister?!"

Tony groaned, ignoring Aiden's cry of disbelief, "Yes, man, I kissed your sister."

"Well, did she kiss back?" Red Dog asked, feeling only the tiniest tinge of jealousy. Okay, so maybe he had a little tiny crush on Aussie and maybe he would feel compelled to plan some grand, romantic gesture in order to get her before Tony had gotten a chance to take her back. He bit down on the side of his lower lip, anticipating Tony's answer.

"She started to, but she pulled away and said something about Blanca."

A breath of relief slipped from Red Dog's lips, as Tony paced about the front room of his house. Aiden was wearing a bit of a relieved expression himself, but, his little sister had just randomly been kissed. Even if it was by Tony, his first friend out of all the Dogtown skaters.

"Well, better she was kissed by you than some complete stranger."

"Whatever, man."


	4. Chapter 4

**Kay so as you know, the more reviews I get the faster I put the chapter up. But thank you to all those who do review. It really helps to know you guys love this story so much.**

Sleep had not come easily for Peggy or Aussie that was apparent in the way they were slouched over each other on the Asian's bed. As guy-ish as the girls could be, they very well had their girly side, and that side was present while they sat gushing about boys until four in the morning.

An hour of sleep was hardly befitting to anyone. But, the boys' couldn't have possibly have known they were up so late just talking. Or maybe they had, maybe that's why they sent Shogo over. Peggy's parents had some fascination with Shogo, because he was the only Asian and they just adored the fact of him and Peggy together, so he was welcomed at the Oki home as easily as Aussie was.

With a large grin painted on his Asian face, he maneuvered his way quietly and effortlessly around the girls while trying to wander into the small bathroom to retrieve a squirt bottle. Shogo always had the best ways to get the two friends up; perhaps that's why the boys always sent him when they couldn't wake them up themselves.

Aussie groaned, coming out of a shallow slumber as soon as she felt the tiny droplets of water explode on her face. Mornings were never really good to Aussie, or Peggy, for that matter, yet Shogo was ready for the certain eruption of morning anger from both girls.

"Okay! We get it-we're up. Now, **get out of my house**!" Peggy spat with a fiery tone lingering in her voice. With as much strength as she had in her tiny body she shoved the boy out of her house, slamming the door.

"Is he gone?" Aussie asked, but the question was muffled, as Aussie had buried her face into the pillow she clutched to her chest as if her life had depended on it.

"Yeah…it's like they forget we're girls sometimes. We aren't like Kathy and Blanca but, damn it, we _are _girls. Don't they know that we stay up until four in the morning and talk about guys?"

Aussie sighed in agreement, groping blindly for her wet suit. If anything, the waves would do more than wake her up. This would be the first time in days that she had gotten to surf. "They don't care that we are girls, have you noticed that? Can I borrow a swim suit?"

Peggy nodded, throwing a spare swim suit Aussie's way.

"Unfortunately, I have. What do you think _they _talk about?"

Aussie wrinkled up her nose in disgust at this question, "Believe me, after having Jay and them more or less _live _in your place for a weekend, you do not want to know. I really don't know how they manage to co-habitate like that."

Peggy shrugged, tossing her raven black hair from her face, pulling her board out of the only place in her house she was able to keep her board, "You need a surf board?"

"Nah, I'll mooch off Aiden's."

…

"Hey, um, I'll be there in a few minutes, there's something I have to do first." Aussie said, gazing over at the pier. Peggy knew full well what she had to do, and far be it from her to stand in her way, so she nodded, continuing to the cove to meet Skip and the other unruly Dogtown boys. Aussie had watched until Peggy was little more than a dot, growing smaller and smaller with every step away from her and the pier.

She took a deep breath in, and held it for a minute before exhaling and latching herself onto the chain-link fence required to climb if you wanted to sit atop the pier and do whatever it is people do atop of piers.

Aussie, though, had more of a sentimental reason to be up on the pier so early in the morning. Memories of her father and the very young, and sometimes, not so young, siblings rushed into the front of her mind, pushing past every other memory that may have clouded her thought on such a day as she settled herself on the edge of the pier, dangling her legs off the edge.

Justin Medina had always allowed his children to come along on his early morning surf sessions. Before surfing had even presented itself in their minds, the father would always crawl up to the top of the pier to dazzle his children with tales from his youth, his own father, his first time surfing, so on and so forth.

Justin Medina had always been a hero to Aussie and Aiden, knowing all to well how he never once left Emily Engblom's side, not when she found out she was pregnant with twins at the tender age of fifteen, not when she had developed that horrible eating disorder shortly after giving birth.

She'd become obsessed with her image, and her weight, even countless over night trips to the hospital could not shake her from her eating habits, which were so very scarce. To her own wishes, and the fact that children of their age did no need to see their mother in such conditions, he would take them with him.

Of course, this had been a long standing tradition even after she had shaped up and conquered her eating disorder. It seemed so unreal that in a matter of seconds her hero had been snatched away from her so quickly. They wouldn't permit either of the teenagers to see their father. The memory of her mother shaking with tears was becoming fresh in her mind.

The whole thing had stuck in her mind like the whole thing had happened yesterday. Yet being here, watching the pinks and oranges of the sunrise clash with the sparkling blues and greens of the jeweled ocean below had given her a much needed sense of comfort.

The rattling of the chain link fence clanking against the cement brought her back into reality, her head turning in the direction of the noise. A faint smile traced her lips as a much trusted friend tried untangling his shoe lace from the fence.

"Hey, you look familiar." She grinned at the tall boy, who had turned out to be Red Dog, as finally caught his shoe lace free from the fence's hold.

"Well, good morning to you, too."

She rolled her eyes, watching as he slide into the vacant spot next to her, "Good morning, Red Dog." She huffed, faking a forced cheery voice.

He sniggered, bumping his elbow into her side lightly as her expression turned serious once more.

"I remember my dad would always let me and Aiden come with him whenever he went surfing," she paused, jerking her finger into a spot not far away from the cove, "There…there's where he taught us to surf at it."

Red Dog nodded, solemnly, "Yeah…your dad was a pretty bad ass dude." He turned slightly to his left to few her fully. She looked so sad, so innocent, so vulnerable and so…unlike herself. It was always a strange sight to see Austin Raechelle Medina, usually so quirky and vivacious, with her guard down, looking on the verge of tears.

"He woulda been thirty-three next week…" she tucked her hands neatly in her lap, and stopped swinging her legs, "It's just so…I dunno…surreal. It's been almost a year, but I still expect to come out of the bedroom and see him there, waiting for Aiden and I to get ready. But, then I have to tell myself he's gone…"

Red Dog bit down on his lower lip, a little too hard, though as he nearly broke through the skin of his bottom lip. Thought she rarely did this, he hated it when she did this, made herself sad. It always lead to him getting sad all because she had made herself sad.

But, maybe now was the time to make than grand romantic gesture he'd been trying to talk himself into over the past couple of weeks, maybe this was his chance to get the girl. Red Dog had always been a very bold boy, unafraid to take on any task, even if the task was a matter of the heart.

So, without hesitation, he wrapped his arm around Aussie's bare shoulders, pulling her close enough to him to where she was able to let her head rest on his shoulder. Aussie was an amazing girl, to him, anyway. He'll be damned if he let her get away.

This small gesture was enough to make Aussie flush. There was only one boy out there who could do that to her and that was Tony Alva. It was so shocking to have that sensation run up her spine from red Dog, but some how she just knew he wouldn't make her worry half as much as Tony did.

"So, aside from reminiscing, what are you doing up here?"

She shrugged, still warm against Red Dog, "Thinking, I guess…"

Thinking? That wasn't elaborate enough. It was nearly impossible to tell what Aussie was thinking about, unless you were Aiden or Peggy. She could be thinking about one sole thing or a million different things all at once. But, he had a pretty good idea of what was on her mind this time…

"About Tony?" he asked, rather hesitantly.

She nodded, clawing at the air, "Ugh, yes! I mean…he makes so mad, but I can't _stay _mad at him, ya know? I've only been truly been mad at him once, and that only lasted a week!" She could feel her cheeks begin to glow a pinkish shade, "But, that's probably not what you came here to talk about…"

He shook his head, "Nah, I'm more interested in _you_." He said, softly, before making his move by catching her lips in his own. So maybe it wasn't the big, grand romantic thing he had hoped for, but at least the job was done. At least Aussie knew how he felt.

So used to being rejected he was surprised to find that she was kissing back. She hadn't pulled away, and started yelling at him, or she hadn't smacked him, or beat the shit out of him, she kissed back. The kiss was only a few seconds long, but it was enough to give him the satisfaction of knowing that Aussie had returned his what he thought to be unrequited feelings.

"Good, 'cause I am _so _sick of Tony Alva."

He could only laugh, and slid his hand around hers, helping her up, "C'mon. Aiden's probably having a heart attack 'cause you aren't there."

"Yeah…Aiden's been known for those."

…

"Blanca, Blanca, for once just listen to me!" Tony's voice echoed through the cove, trying to catch up to a very pissed of Blanca. He had gotten a good hold on her wrist, but she spun around, shoving him away.

"Don't fucking touch me! You're a fucking dog Tony Alva!" she screamed as loud as she could before storming up to Aussie, grabbing her by the shoulder and twirling her so she faced her.

_**Smack**__Blanca's freshly manicured hands met with Aussie's face. The slap had been hard enough to make a searing pain shoot through both Blanca's hand and Aussie's face._

"I can't believe you, Aussie! You're supposed to be my friend! And friends don't go around kissing other friends' boyfriends! You're such a whore!"

It had taken Aussie a few seconds to register what had just happened and let Blanca's insults set it, but when they did, she jumped at the Latino girl, ready to fight back.

"Shit…" Red Dog mumbled, before slipping his arms around Aussie's middle, knowing that Aussie was more than capable of more than just a slap. She could do quite the number on Blanca.

"Are you fucking high? Or are you just stupid? I didn't kiss him back! He kissed _me_. Maybe if you trusted him a little more, he wouldn't go around kissing other fucking girls, bitch!" she huffed out, still trying to move out of Red Dog's grip.

Tony had been stupid enough to let Blanca out of his grip after Aussie had slipped out of Red Dog's grip. That's when all hell more or less broke loose. Blanca had lunged herself at Aussie, pinning her to the ground.

This was bad. Blanca could certainly hold her ground even if she was fighting with Aussie. Aiden, Tony and Red Dog were trying their best to separate the girls, they knew as well as everyone else, blood would be shed, bruises would appear.

"Blanca, get off of Aussie!" Peggy sighed, shooing the three boys away. As always, Peggy achieved what three boys combined couldn't even accomplish, and that was tearing Blanca off of Aussie. Even in Blanca's kicking and shouting, Peggy could still hold her ground, telling Blanca to go home, that she would explain every thing later.

Aussie scrambled to her feet, ignoring Aiden and Stacy's questions of concern as she huffed off in the opposite direction of Blanca.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

…

After the huge occurrence of events, the group of Dogtown teens had decided to regroup later that afternoon at an empty pool not far from the Zephyr Surf shop, where Peggy and Red Dog sat, forcing Aussie to hold an ice bag to where Blanca had struck her.

"For the last time, guys, the swellings gone down, I don't need this stupid bag of ice anymore!" she whined, hissing in pain, her hand immediately flying up to her cheek. Peggy sighed, she was aware that she was just as stubborn as Aussie when hurt, she just hadn't come to terms that dealing with a girl of a stubborn persona was quiet this difficult.

Red Dog shook his head, pulling the ice pack from the ground, pressing it softly against her cheek, holding it in place himself. "Hate to break it to you, babe, but you do still need this stupid bag of ice."

Aussie rolled her eyes, obviously losing her patience, "Well, I can successfully say that today has sucked so far and I have this sinking feeling that it's only going to get worse. But the only way that could happen is if Tony finds out that we are, well, a 'we' now. At least, that's what I'm assuming. That we….are a we," She drifted off, suddenly feeling like the biggest idiot on the planet.

Of course she and Red Dog were a 'we'; he wouldn't have kissed her if he hadn't intended on him and Aussie becoming a 'we.'

A half smile slowly painted itself onto Red Dog's face, as he snaked his arms around her middle, drawing her closer to him so he could gently place a kiss on her wounded cheek, which Aussie thought they were making it out to be something very mellow-dramatic.

"You bet we're a 'we', babe. But…how would Tony find out? I mean, Peggy only knows and Peggy wouldn't open her mouth to anyone…" he looked wearily up at Peggy, who looked appalled that he would suggest such a thing.

"No, I wouldn't, dick head. Aussie's my best friend and if she doesn't want anyone to know about you guys, then I'll keep my mouth shut."

The statement had nearly brought tears to Aussie's eyes. She had always known Peggy Oki was her best friend, but to actually hear it out in the open that way made it bigger than what she had thought."

"Aw, thanks, Peg," she cooed, watching as Peggy parted her hair into her normal pigtails, "and, our friends have mysterious ways of finding shit like this out. How did they know Tony and I started dating? How did they know about my dad?"

Red Dog and Peggy exchanged glances at mentioning of the Tony part, considering how Tony took pride in being with Aussie as a couple, and chose to let all of Dogtown know about it.

"Okay, so Tony's a bad example…but...you know what? Let's just go skate."

To Aussie surprise, the mentioning of her and Red Dog officially being a 'we' as of 5:30 this morning had been kept under raps, to her relief. Really the last thing she needed to deal with today was Tony Alva and his jealousy hissy fit type deal.

So far everything was going as normal as a typical day of skating pools could go; everyone laughing, pushing one another off their skateboards, or into the pool, or just ripping on each other in the nicest possible way. If there was any justice in the world at all, Tony would not find out about her and Red Dog.

"Aus, I need to talk to you. Now." The voice from behind her registered in her mind as Tony's, feeling the Mexican boys' strong hand on the small of her back to give her a small shove foreword.

But, rarely was there any justice in the world. If there had been, Aussie would still have her father and Tony wouldn't have somehow found out about it. Yet he had, and he did plan to do something about it as they stalked silently to the surprisingly empty backroom of the banana yellow Zephyr shop.

"What do you want Alva? Now, I know it's your girlfriend who hit me, but my anger is directed towards you." She sniped, expecting a Tony Alva explosion of anger in 3…2…1.

"So, you can kiss Red Dog, but you can't kiss me?!"

"Yes, Tony exactly. I can kiss Red Dog, but I can't kiss you!"

"Why?" This question Aussie did not have a snarky, or smart alecy remark to. Why was she able to kiss Red Dog, but not Tony? She was over Tony, right? She was with Red Dog right? Red Dog, the boy she knew that would never ever hurt her, never break her heart without even knowing he did. _I think the only reason you kissed him back is because you still like him you're just to stubborn to admit it._ Peggy's taunting words echoed in her head. No. No, Peggy was wrong. She didn't like Tony anymore- -she _couldn't _like Tony anymore.

She sunk into herself a bit, while an annoyed Tony raged on. "Why can't you admit that you still like me, Aussie?!" he snapped.

That last remark had stung, but she was sure it meant to. She was sure that Tony could see what she wouldn't let herself believe.

"Why can't I-why can't you just get over yourself, Tony?! I like Red Dog, a lot. I kissed him. I'm with him now. I'm so sorry if you can't deal with that." The apology was fake, as she was partially sure he knew. Somehow, she knew what he would say next. She knew that this was yet another question she couldn't answer.

"Do you love him?" The question was so simple, but so vitally important at the moment. Of course she loved Red Dog…she _did _love Red Dog, didn't she?

The anger flaring in Tony's eyes matched her own. Like most of the boys, Tony towered over her, but right now, the way she was staring him down, she matched his height. Her anger overpowered her fear as she went on with her bravado. She sat strong, refusing to answer any question until Tony's fuse was at its end, and he slammed his fist into the wall inches away from her head, then huffed out of the shop, and away from his friends.

And she just watched him storm out. If this had been one of those untimely love stories, she easily would have followed him out, begging him to listen to her, and apologize for her actions, they would kiss and everyone would have a happy ending. But, this wasn't an untimely love story, this was the real world. This was real world Aussie, not untimely love story Aussie and real world Aussie could care less if Tony was pissed at her for being happy with Red Dog.

Red Dog only sat and watched one of his oldest friends storm away from the group, knowing that his worst fear, at the moment, was that he had found out about him and Aussie. This had happened. What was he going to do? He knew Tony still had feelings for her, but he did, too. Tony was very petrifying to around when he was mad, and he was most likely the main target of Tony's aggression.

When Aussie came out, he found himself running to her side, and ask her about what had happened, how the conversation went. As mostly anyone would, she left out key details, like, Tony asking her if she had loved him, per say.

"No...it's not important. Tony's mad at me, but fuck it. Give me a board, dude, this pool is just calling my name!"

Slightly worried that Aussie wasn't eroding, as she normally would have been, he gingerly handed his board over to her, watching as she dropped in.

He'd taken his gaze of her for a moment to look over at Peggy, who thought nothing of it. She knew as well as Aiden when and when not to be concerned for her best friend and this apparently had been on of those moments.

That thought settled his mind if only for a moment when the crashing of a skateboard rang through his ears. It had been Aussie; she had lost her footing and bailed out before she got seriously hurt. He sat there, waiting for her to get up, laugh and shake it off.

When she hadn't gotten up after his count of two minutes, he nudged Peggy with his elbow, and the both of them jumped into the pool to tend to the unmoving body of Aussie.

"Aus? Aussie?" He gave shook her shoulders lightly before a panic had set in.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks to the people the review the last chapter. In response to the comment about Tony as a love interest: I wasn't too crazy about it, either. Really this is my first attempt at a Tony/OC story so lets' hope it goes otay. **

_"Aus?__Aussie!"__ He shook her shoulders lightly before a panic had set in._

"Aiden!" Peggy called before kneeling next to Aussie. She still had a pulse, thank God for that. She didn't think that it was too bad; at least she had hoped it wouldn't be too bad.

A shocked, scared expression etched itself deep in Aiden's expression. He looked at Aussie's unconscious body before looking up at Peggy for some sort of explanation.

"She's not moving, but she still has a pulse," She bit down on her lower lip, letting Aussie's wrist drop. She just had to be unconscious, nothing more, she kept telling herself.

A groan had caught the attention of the three teens gathered around, watching as Aussie's eyes slowly fluttered open. She jumped, obviously startled by the crowd of people around her. What had just happened? Did she even know this people? None of them looked familiar…

She blinked a few times, trying to restore her vision that was very blurry at the moment, "W-who are you?" She was quite dazed and desperately wanted her question answered. She didn't get one, instead a scornful look from Aiden, holding the upper half of her body up.

"C'mon, Aussie, that is not _even _funny!" He snapped, hoping this was his sisters' messed up version of a joke.

"Aussie…is that my name?" Her own voice hadn't even registered in her own mind.

"Yeah…but that's just short for Austin. You really don't remember, do you?"

The teen closed her eyes, and shook her head, causing her hair to fly in her face, "No…should I?"

"Oh, shit. Oh, shit. This isn't good…fuck. Moms' gonna kill me. Red Dog go get Stacy and tell him to get his car, right now."

While the strange boy was pulling her off the bottom of the pool, she'd managed to catch a glimpse of her own reflection. It was scary; she looked so much like that boy who was helping her. Were they related? She came to a complete stop, causing Aiden to jerk back.

"You look like me…" she raised her fingers to gently brush her face, "Are we…related?"

He sighed, cursing himself silently for letting this happen, "Yeah, I'm Aiden. I'm your brother."

"Ohhh," she nodded, before looking at the pool filled with kids. She was pretty sure they weren't supposed to be there, but what she could remember, she was very doubtful of, considering she couldn't remember her own brother. "And, these people, do I know them?"

"Those people are your friends," he answered as he rushed his sister into Stacy's car.

…

"Now, follow this light with your eyes,"

Her hazel eyes followed the light as the doctor ran it back and forth several times before clicking it off and jotting something down on the clipboard held in his spare hand.

"Alright, now can you tell me your full name?"

Aussie would have had trouble with this question if the group of teens squished in the back of Stacy's car hadn't crammed her head with as much information about herself within the short time it took to get to the hospital. This was all after something inside her reminded that she did not like hospitals in the least bit.

"Austin Raechelle Medina."

The doctor had muttered a series of 'mhms' and 'good' while scribbling down even more information. What was he writing exactly?

"Great, what about your mothers name?"

She knew this one. All by herself even. She got such a sense of pride just by knowing one name, "Em-Ema…Emma...Em-Emily! Emily. My moms name is Emily," She beamed, that certain sense of pride returning to her again.

Aiden smirked; glad his sister remembered one thing about herself-even if she hadn't had the intention to.

"So, um, doc, what's the damage? Is she gonna be okay?"

The doctor had turned to look at Aiden, before running a hand through his graying hair, "You're her brother, right?"

Like that wasn't the most obvious thing in the world; they looked exactly like each other. Can't anyone put two and two together? He nodded slowly, images of his mother shouting and screaming at him still reeling in his mind. It was like a play by play, the yelling, the lecture, the grounding. He knew it all before it could happen.

"Well, she's just temporarily lost her memory. Just walk her through key details, names' of friends, relatives, look through old photos and her memory should return in two weeks time. But, I do need you to call your mother before I can let you two be on your way."

"Oh, uh, right of course," he sighed, watching as the doctor turned to Aussie, asking her to point out how many fingers he was holding up.

This action had earned an eye rolling and the comment, "Dude, I just hit my head. I'm not stupid."

_At least she remembers her attitude…_he thought with a smirk before dialing his home number, "Oh, hey Mom. It's me. Listen, it's about Aussie. We were skating and she fell. Hit her head pretty hard. What? No! She's okay, she's okay. She's just has short term memory loss, but the doctor says it'll clear up in, like, two weeks if we help. Kay, we'll be here. Love you, bye." Wincing a bit, he hung up the phone.

His mother had taken that better than he thought she would.

…

Within fifteen minutes Emily and Dave pulled up to the hospital, signed a few papers, and Aussie was in the back seat, glancing at the passing Dogtown view in complete awe.

"Oh, baby, are you okay?" Emily asked, praying her daughter had the slightest clue to who she was. She'd never been put in this situation before so it was only expected she be worried about her daughter.

"Yeah, Mom. I'm fine," she nodded with a silly grin. But it had faded when she stopped to look at Dave, "Now…I don't exactly know why but I'm pretty sure I don't like you."

Aiden held back a chuckle, there was never a truer statement made.

As much as it hurt hear her daughter say it, she knew all too well that it was true. Aussie was never too thrilled with the aspect of Emily dating so soon after Justin's sudden death.

_Why are you trying to replace Dad? Especially with him! Whatever do what you __want._Those were the words Aussie had screamed when the news of her mothers' new beau reached her. She tried explaining to her daughter that the last thing she was trying to do was replace the love of her life and that she needed Dave in her life to help her deal with the grief.

Aussie's response to that had not been a pleasant one, insisting that she was trying to say her two children weren't enough. It was then she'd come to the conclusion Aussie was maybe too much like Justin. Which wasn't a bad thing, in fact she adored the fact her daughter had so much of her husbands' fire in her.

"So…this is our place?"

With a sigh Aiden nodded, "Yeah, home sweet home."

"Oh, damn it. Aiden, I completely forgot I'm taking Deb's shift at the diner tonight…do you think you could take care of Aussie until then?" Emily sighed, smacking a hand to her forehead. As always, Dave was going to be out on one of his trips until at least Sunday.

"Sure."

"Oh, thank you baby," Emily cooed, placing a kiss on her sons' forehead before scrounging through her bag to retrieve just enough money for tonight's dinner.

"I'm sorry, babe. I really hate to do this but we really need the money," His mother apologized, rushing around the apartment to ready herself for the busy night ahead of her.

"No, no, Ma, it's no problem. Just go, work, do something for yourself afterwards. I'll take care of Aussie."

….

About an hour had passed with Aiden tending to his sister, flipping through old pictures, telling her stories, everything he could think of that would help jog his sisters' memory. Certain things she would remember, say being a little kid and how Aiden and Tony would always get into constant fights.

That was the easy part. The hardest part came when he had shuffled through old photographs of their father and she had asked what had happened to him. He didn't think the full of effect of it had hit her yet but that would by far be the worst part, when what had happened finally did hit her.

"Okay…so this Red Dog person…he's like my boyfriend, or whatever?" Her head fell to the side while she pinched a picture of her Peggy and Red Dog between her thumb and pointer finger.

Aiden gave an irritated sigh, removing the picture from his sisters' grasp. Even though two of his closest friends were the ones who have dated his younger sibling, he still wasn't content with the fact that his dear little sister had matured into dating.

"Yeah, but he'll treat you so much better than Tony did."

Tony...the name didn't ring as familiar in her mind.

"Tony…To-Oh! The Mexican dude! Wait, when did I date him?"

"A few months back, but, I'll have him explain. You just stay here, I'm going to go call him and he's going to watch you. I have stuff to do and I can't exactly take ya with me, sis."

Aussie's eyes followed him as he got up and walked over to the phone. She could here the phone keys click softly as Aiden dialed Tony's number. She still felt a little…uneasy about all this. Yeah, Aussie knew that this was her family, and these people were her friends but not remembering them, how they met, or how strong the bond between them might be is what really got to her.

Her brothers' conversation with Tony for the most part was blocked out due to her fascination with the skateboard peeking out of her and her brothers' room. She skated? Or, maybe it was him who skated? Curiosity got the best of Aussie, as it often did, while she crawled over to the room, leaving scattered memories in a messy pile on the floor.

"I see you found Steve," Aiden chuckled, laying both hands on his sisters' shoulders. His touch made Aussie jump and fall back against Aiden's legs.

"Who skates?" She asked, letting her fingers graze the rough, sandy top of the board as she looked up at Aiden, her hazel eyes sparkling with the question.

"Well, we both do. That's how you lost your memory, but that board was Dad's."

"And he named it Steve?" Her question took on a tone of disbelief that anybody would name a skateboard.

The question made him laugh and ruffle is sisters' hair, like their father would often do, "Yep. He named his surf board Emily. After Mom. He gave that to us, though. Before he, you know…"

Was it horrible that she didn't remember her own fathers' death? She wasn't to blame; she didn't purposely fall on her head, but something like that you'd think she'd be able to remember. She wished she could though; remember the incident, or how close the siblings were to their father.

Aiden cleared his throat, watching as the small terrier, James Tyberious, came running up to Aussie, pressing his wet nose into her arm as he jumped into his owners' lap, "Well, J.T remembers you," he chuckled then bent down to kiss his the top of his sisters' head, "Tony should be here in a few minutes. Behave, Aus."

…

"So, why are we mad at each other?"

Tony chuckled to himself at this question. Why he found it so amusing was a mystery to him. At this point, though, he was faced with an ultimatum. He could either tell Aussie the truth or leave her to remember it all on her own. Or pry the answer from Red Dog or Peggy, which to either of the two was information they were willing to give away.

He sighed and shook his head, "Well, chicka, if I tell you now, you'll beat the shit outta me, but if I don't tell you, you'll beat the shit outta me. Either way, I get the shit beat outta me."

A questionable glance played on her features while her pointer finger became tangled in the brown locks she was twirling around, "Or, I could beat the shit out of you until you tell me," she added with a grin.

Defeated Tony rolled his eyes, shoving her over softly with his foot, "Get dressed."

…

"Haha, I knew you'd remember this!" Tony chuckled, moving the matt in front of his face to shield it from Aussie's fist flying towards him, "Um, you're dropping your shoulder."

At his words Aussie stopped and dropped to the ground, "I'm not supposed to do that?"

"Nope."

She nodded with a small 'ah', "How long have I been doing this?"

The Mexican boy bit his lower lip hesitantly, now being faced with yet another confrontation. Had Aiden explained their fathers' death to her? Upsetting her was not an activity he planned to engage in tonight. He just wasn't good with girls crying around him, he didn't know what to do. Not even with Kathy, his own sister.

"Since your mom started dating that asshole Dave," It wasn't a complete lie, but it wasn't the truth either. Aussie had taken this up when her dad died and when her mother started dating Dave…so he didn't _exactly _ lie to her.

"Ohhh…I knew I didn't like him," She shrugged before glancing around the room innocently, "So, why are we mad at each other?"

**Ehhh…sorry for the lameness ending of this chapter. I've sorta lost direction in this story…I know where it's going; I just have no clue what to do in the meantime. Hehe. Anywho, reviews are always welcomed. :D**


	6. Chapter 6

The steam from the shower had cleared out and Aussie wiped away the fog quickly forming on the mirror, ready to prep herself for her first day back at work. A nervous sensation overcame her for reasons beyond her comprehension. It was just work, right? No need to become all jittery.

Well over a week had passed and lost memories returned, sticking fresh in the teens mind. The people around her were no longer strange faces blurred together but the individuals she'd grown up around and communicated with on a day-to-day basis.

Hair secured into a tight pony tail, appropriate work attire donning her thin body, and a light layer of make up, Aussie was ready for her return to the quaint restaurant, second running in popularity to Venice Noodle Company, where the wonderful blonde boy, Stacy Peralta, slaved away at.

Drawing in a deep breath of confidence, Aussie trooped out of the small bathroom, pony tail swinging with every stride she took. Her gaze landed on the bare torsoed Mexican boy entangled in the light cotton sheets on the make shift bed Aiden manufactured for him.

_I let __**that **__go? What am I? Stupid or something? No. Bad Austin. _She shook her head, chiding herself for the impure thoughts about the frizzy golden haired Mexican teen who'd be aiding her brother in baby sitting her for the past week.

_Now, how could you be thinking that after you __**finally **__figured out why you two were mad at each other?_ _Well…look at him! I think that six pack does enough forgiving for the both of us. Shut up! You have Red Dog. I know, I'm just sayin'…_

Tuning out the inner argument against herself, an unprepared sigh slipped through her pale pink lips as she collected the keys to Dave's Firebird in her hand before bouncing out of the apartment, leaving the door slightly ajar.

….

The restaurant was busy today. Flocking tourist easily tripled the normal mid afternoon rush and the red headed manager found her busy boys outweighed her servers in a numerous amount, and the spicy tempered owner had bumped Aussie up to waitress, thrusting a maroon apron into her arms, accompanied by an order pad and a pencil.

Wrapping her fire truck red talons around Aussie's upper arm, Kerry led Aussie to her first group of local customers. Her uncle Skip and the whole Dogtown crew swarmed the restaurant, rearranging and connecting tables in order to fit all of them in what little space the over populated restaurant had to offer.

"Oh, boy, what do _you _want?" She sighed, taking on a feigned annoyed tone with her uncle.

"What? I can't visit my favorite niece at work every once in a while? God knows she and her maggot friends swarm my work every god damn day," The sun bleached drunk of a surf shop owner (actually sober today) chortled, lighting a cigarette and grinning up at his niece.

"Uh-huh, that's nice. But I meant to eat," Aussie laughed, tapping the eraser of the pencil on the order pad held in her spare hand.

Skip smirked before rambling on. Aussie entertained her uncles' conversation with small 'mhms' and 'uh-huhs', attempting to keep up with the Dogtown heathens orders flying from their mouths faster than any human could jot down.

"Aussie!" Kerry snapped, making her way over to the girl frozen in her spot. "Aussie, we're packed today! I know he's your uncle and I know this is your little. . . "posse" but just please, get to the other customers!" The red head explained, expressing her stress clearly by stretching out every last word of her sentence before stalking away with her hands clawing away at her hair.

Alarmed by her managers' sudden outburst, Aussie clamped over her bottom lip and flushed slightly before exhaling a small 'right' and drawing away to bustle around the small restaurant.

_Ha. By the time this day is over, she'll be partly bald._

…

"Phew, rough day. Wouldn't you say, Aus?" Lynn, Aussie's newest co-worker, inquired, keeping a set stare on the just as exhausted girl clearing any left over food from every table in the eating establishment.

_Why can't I remember her name? It's not that hard to remember. _Inner Aussie, as she referred to her conscience as, sighed, trying ever so hard to pull the girls' name to her lips.

"Yeah, Kerry isn't this big of a bitch normally." She offered a wry smile, watching Lynn toss the apron to the ground and gather up her stuff to head home for the evening.

"Really?" Lynn grimaced, "Coulda fooled me." She laughed, her bright green eyes sparkling. "Well, have fun cleaning up."

Aussie answered with a nod as the tiny framed girl walk out the door, hips swaying in perfect rhythm with her foot steps. She was alone. Daniela had cut out of her shift hours earlier, claiming to have caught the flu, all the other workmates had rushed out and the resentful boss had commanded Aussie to stick around for clean up duty. For if she didn't, risk losing a serious percentage of her pay check.

Her teeth caught her lower lip and her hazel eyes scanned the empty eating establishment before dunking a burgundy colored rag into a container of frothy hot water, wiping down the booths of the restaurant first to work her way up to the individual tables.

A cool breeze licked over the restaurants floor but Aussie didn't let it distract her from cleaning every last nook and cranny of tiny diner. She didn't think much of it. _Probably some local who can't read. . ._the inner voice in her head snapped bitterly. She tried not to let her unpleasant thoughts leak through to her voice.

"We're closed!"

Her hand stopped the wiping motion to wait for a response. None. She groaned, tossing the clothe into the luke warm water before turning in the direction, ready to repeat her previous statement. "I said we—Oh. . .it's you." Her nose wrinkled in disgust at the site of Tony Alva's face.

The freeze out didn't come as a shock to him. In fact, he was just waiting for something to trigger the fight they got into before Aussie's daring nature kicked in.

He shrugged, slipping his hands in the pockets of his tight jeans. The Mexican boy looked down at the ground and chuckled quietly to himself.

"Alright, I deserve that, Aus."

The brunette had turned on her heel, facing the boy with a serious expression on her face, "You're damn right you deserve that, Tony Alva! How _dare _you even ask me a question like that! All because you can't over yourself and the fact that I moved on," She raged on.

Tony couldn't help but smirk at Aussie's outburst. It's not his fault Aussie just happened to be next to hilarious when she was on a rampage like this. Her lecture seemed to cut out in Tony's mind, her voice was muted out and the only thing he could see was her lips moving at lightspeed. She was so. . .hot when she was angry. Tony nodded a small nod at his thoughts. Sure, 'cute' would have been a more appropriate word but Tony Alva doesn't let his sensitive guy side shine out very often.

Her mouth had stopped moving.

"Okay, Aus. Come to my party with Red Dog tonight." That's all he said before he made his exit from the eating establishment.

**Ahh. Another lame ending, I know. But as it turns out, my orginal ending of this chapter didn't make sense, so I'm leaving it at that. C: **


End file.
